Öndörhaan

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Öndörhaan (Mongolian: Өндөрхаан; also spelt Undurkhaan or Undur Khan), is a town in Mongolia situated on the Kherülen river and located 290 km east of Ulaanbaatar. Öndörkaan has an population of roughly 15,000 persons and serves as the capital of Hentiy aymag. Öndörkhaan shares its locational with Kherlen soum (municipality) and is the most populous part of the Hentiy province.

[edit] Geography

The town serves as a transportation hub, linking Ulaanbaatar and Choybalsan, and it is also a major stopping point for the secondary overland access point for Mongolia-China. Coal mining is important to the economy of the town and a coalfield is located in the Mörön River valley, 50 miles from the Öndörhaan

The town has exactly four paved streets. Two running parallel on a North-South Axis and two running perpendicular to these roads. In the far, Eastern end is the Russian section of town about 2 km from the town center. This is where the Russians use to live when there were in Mongolia. Its a long and dark road to walk, especially at night.

Öndörkhaan is the second coldest city in Mongolia. It borders the Kherülen river and is located on a broad flat unprotected plain. In winter, when the river freezes over and the winds howl across the open steppe it can easily reach -40C (no wind chill factor).

[edit] History

When Chinese leader Lin Biao fled China in the wake of his abortive coup against Mao Zedong, Lin's plane reportedly crashed outside Öndörkhaan on September 13, 1971, killing Lin and his entire family.

In 2004, there was an outbreak of bubonic plague in a neighboring county. A herder had shot a marmot for food, which carried ticks, which carry bubonic plague. The town and the entire province was closed for an entire week. Several fatalities occured from the bubonic plague.^[1].

There exists a major United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Networking and Cluster Development project stationed in Öndörkhaan specializing in the strengthen of urban, peri-urban and rural business associations and networks so as to reduce the very high unemployment rates.